It’s been an up-and-down season for Coco Gauff. After winning her first major title at the 2023 US Open, the now 20-year-old started her year by earning the trophy at Auckland and reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open but never quite found the same hot streak that highlighted her 2023.
Gauff, who won the French Open doubles title and was a flag-bearer for the United States at the Olympics, struggled during the summer and failed to defend her titles at Cincinnati and the US Open, losing in the Round of 32 and Round of 16, respectively. Following her disappointing result in New York, she parted ways with coach Brad Gilbert and brought in Matt Daly as his replacement.
Now, as the season’s end rapidly approaches, it seems as if Gauff has finally hit her stride again.
Perhaps in part buoyed by the new energy on her team, or the change of scenery during the Asian swing of the tour, Gauff won her biggest title of the season on Sunday at the 1000-level China Open behind a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final. With 24 winners and a strong serving performance on the day — and epic points like the one below — Gauff was virtually unstoppable against the equally athletic and resurgent Muchova.
w🤯w is right!@CocoGauff | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/rBaGnNOraj
— wta (@WTA) October 6, 2024
Throughout her run in Beijing, Gauff was unflappable and recorded multiple comeback victories, including against Paula Badosa in the semifinals. With the title — the eighth of her career — Gauff became the youngest champion at the event in 14 years and the first American since Serena Williams in 2013. She is now 7-1 in singles finals and became the first woman in the Open era to win her first seven hard-court finals. Gauff was unaware of that stat when asked about it by a reporter following the match but called it “pretty cool.”
“I feel like every tournament, it’s a new stat or new record,” Gauff said. “I’m very thankful. I would be excited to see when the next stat is, the next girl, I don’t know, who will be the first person to do this since Coco Gauff. I’m excited to see that.
“It means a lot when I saw that the last American woman to win this was Serena Williams. Honestly, anytime my name is mentioned in whatever sentence hers is. It’s like a huge honor to do something no one has ever done before.”
Gauff now returns to the top five, after falling out of it after the US Open, and currently sits in the fifth spot in the race…
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